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The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family Will Keep Faith in Your Family! (book review and giveaway)

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from Zondervan Publishing, via Book Look Bloggers Progran, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it

And now for a book that can give you just the inspiration you need

to keep the closeness and faith you shared with the kids over the Summer

going strong, all school year long!

Synopsis:

The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family addresses one of the top current concerns about youth and the church: the reality that nearly half of all young people raised in Christian families walk away from their faith when they graduate from high school. That's the bad news. But here's the good news: research also shows that parents are one of the primary influences on their child's faith.

This book arises from the innovative, research-based, and extensively field-tested project known as "Sticky Faith," designed to equip parents with insights and ideas for nurturing long-term faith in children and young people. Grounded in academically verified data, The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family is a positive and practical resource that empowers parents to take the small steps that can translate into big progress in their kids' spiritual journeys.

Even busy families will find the "guidebook" format accessible and easy to use. More importantly, they'll be equipped with research-tested tools to nurture a strong faith in the next generation.

Review:

This book is broken down in 13 chapters., that deal with topics such as family relationships, mistakes, community, extended family, vacation and transition. Pretty much every area that can come to mind while raising kids! Each chapter starts off with a short story, emphasizing that chapter's them, then real life examples are showcased in Sticky Findings, followed by Sticky Ideas- how other families have used the concepts in real life, and concludes with a section for you to fill out on our family's sticky steps/goals. The concept allows you to read relevant section to YOUR family. You can pick and choose what is right, and there is no 'set' rules to follow!

Some of the Sticky Findings may surprise you, as they are based on findings by other researchers and cross denominational and faith lines. Such as Family timthe more time spent together as a family has shown to increase the positive influence on your child's internal faith. When you think about that, it makes sense. YOU are being more of an influence on them, so adding more quality time, you, and your values and faith, will have a bigger impact on your child. So you can ask yourself if it is a game night, a movie night, or what excites your kdis, that you share together as family, that adds to their perceived value of family time. Positive memories of family traditions will later help your child want to keep them in THEIR lives, even as adults!

I think my favorite idea from the book was the Sticky Idea of 'Wow, Pow, Holy Cow'. Every night at dinner everyone (parents too) get asked that question- everyone has to tell what was the best party of their day (Wow), the worst part of the day (Pow), something that pointed/reminded them of God (Holy Cow) and how they were the answer to someone else's pray of the day (How). It seems so SIMPLE, but the idea of connectivity (sharing dinner together and sharing the day from a different perspective (not what happened in school, but what THEY think happened to them personally the entire day), is pretty amazing when you think about it! Plus it can lead to some great topics of discussion.

The book is based on the Fuller Youth Institute’s six years of research with more than 500 young people, 100 churches, and 50 families, and while it covered many denominations of Christian faith, I did note that most of the participants were West Coast or Northern, and the 'Catholic' faiths were represented by one sole Lutheran! And that the participants were 78% Caucasian. I'm not sure if those 3 variables had been more balanced, how different the study would have been. It's just the balance seeker in me, thinking that those other families might have had some great ideas about keep strong faith traditions going with your kids. But overall I think the 100 ideas presented from parents, leaders and teens in the study, were pretty universal, and that are great to think about using with your family, making this a great resource book for parents!

About the Author:

Dr. Kara E. Powell is an educator, professor, youth minister, author, and speaker. Named by Christianity Today as one of the leading fifty women most shaping culture and the church today, she is the Executive director of the Fuller Youth Institute and a faculty member at Fuller Theological Seminary (see fulleryouthinstitute.org). Kara also serves as an Advisor to Youth Specialties and currently volunteers in student ministries at Lake Avenue church in Pasadena, CA. She is the author of many books including Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids (with Chap Clark) and Deep Justice Journeys. Kara lives in Pasadena with her husband, Dave, and their children, Nathan, Krista, and Jessica.

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